Double whammy of deficient monsoon and excess rains hits UP farmers

Surendra Pathak, a potato farmer in Etawah, said, "We sow the early potato varieties by the end of September. But this year, around seven hectares of our potato farm has been affected by heavy rains."

Prabhat Kumar, a marginal farmer, is worried about his paddy crop. "My standing crop of paddy has fallen to the ground due to heavy rains. I fear that at least half of my crop has been destroyed, and all of it will be lost if the weather doesn't improve in the coming days," he said.

Officials at the district level are conducting surveys on the direction of the state government to assess the damage caused due to heavy rains across Uttar Pradesh.

Relief Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh Prabhu Narayan Singh said, "The rains recorded in the state have been excess. The damage done to the crops is also being assessed ... district authorities have been advised to take all measures to provide assistance to farmers in case of crop loss."

The situation the relief department is dealing with now is in stark opposite of what the situation was almost a fortnight ago. Last month, the relief department was collecting data regarding lack of rainfall during the monsoon. As per IMD data, Uttar Pradesh recorded almost 30 per cent less rainfall this monsoon season (June 1 to September 30). Because of this, 53 of the total 75 districts recorded deficient rainfall. The lack of rainfall too harmed farmers by affecting their Kharif crops.

BJP MLA from Bilaspur Baldev Singh Aulakh said, "Farmers in Rampur and others in the Terai belt, which is known for its paddy cultivation, were affected due to weak and delayed monsoon. The farmers were not able to cultivate the paddy, and if they did, not all of them were able to irrigate the crops properly." Aulakh has assured the farmers of his constituency who have incurred losses due to the lack of rains of his support.

The farmers are, however, losing hope. "It has been a very miserable year for me so far. Much worse than the coronavirus. I was only able to cultivate half of the paddy than previous years due to less rainfall. That too is in danger because of the recent heavy rains," Preetampal Singh, a farmer in Shahjahanpur district, said.